Upside down Christmas trees looks to be one of the biggest Christmas trends to emerge this year.

The quirky yet somewhat controversial decorating choice is getting a lot of attention, and catalogue retailer Argos is even stocking a version for anyone wanting to create the installation at home.

An upside down Christmas tree is literally just that, a tree that has been upturned so that the tip (where the tree topper would sit) is pointed towards the bottom, whilst the base – i.e. the lower end of the tree – is at the top. The options available enable you to have the tree on a stand on the floor or alternatively hanging from the ceiling.

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However, it's not an entirely new concept. Upside down Christmas trees is thought to be a Central and Eastern European tradition dating back to the Middle Ages where people hung trees upside down to represent the Holy Trinity or evoke the shape of the cross.

It's certainly had a revival as of late, and is now emerging as a key, modern trend for the festive season.

'The Upside Down Christmas tree is the most cutting-edge trend we've seen this year, and so far, we've already seen sales increase by 10 per cent year on year,' Zoe Haynes, Christmas trees buyer at Argos tells HouseBeautiful.co.uk. 'This trend was first seen in the US and is slowly making its way over here and we're one of the first retailers to make it available to UK customers. We always try to select products that are innovative and will delight and amaze our customers and this one is certainly different to the traditional trend.'

Argos describes the tree – which comes pre-lit with 200 LED lights – as 'incredibly practical' with 'great space-saving benefits as by reversing the tree you can display more and bigger decorations. There is also more room for presents under the tree'.

Setting you back almost £200, Zoe says the tree itself 'is a great talking point and will look good in hallways, living rooms or kitchens'. She adds: 'It is a great space-saving option for those with smaller spaces yet will be striking in larger spaces as the tree can hold larger sized decorations.'

Seen throughout department stores, hotels and shopping centres, the unconventional upside down tree was embraced in the Tate Britain gallery in December 2016, with a tree suspended from the ceiling, and more recently in Claridge's Hotel with their Karl Lagerfeld-designed Christmas tree.. Unveiled in November, the16 foot high inverted tree has been draped with lights and takes centre stage in the hotel's lobby.

Speaking to the experts at Pinterest, the leading ideas sharing platform, they tell us that alternative trees has definitely grown in popularity. Recent stats reveal a +240 per cent increase in saved pins for 'hanging Christmas trees' on Pinterest.

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But how do these upside down trees look once they've been decorated in all their festive glory? We've been trawling through the #UpsideDownChristmasTree hashtag on Instagram, and homes are filled with them! Take a look at a few below: